Ohio State Football’s Top Position Battles Heading Into 2026 Preseason Camp

Plenty of Starting Jobs Still Up for Grabs

Multiple starting jobs on both sides of the ball will be up for grabs as Ohio State begins preseason camp. On offense, the Buckeyes return eight starters plus a presumed starter at tight end in Nate Roberts, yet Ryan Day’s staff still has major position battles to sort out along the offensive line and at wide receiver. On defense, Ohio State returns just three starters Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Jaylen McClain and Jermaine Mathews Jr. with Payton Pierce, Devin Sanchez and Earl Little Jr. looking like locks to start alongside offseason transfer additions Christian Alliegro and Terry Moore. Beyond those names, plenty of others are pushing for playing time in the back seven, with multiple starting jobs still up for grabs along the defensive line as well.

With 25 preseason practices set to begin Thursday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, here’s a closer look at the two most consequential position battles Ohio State will need to settle before the season opener.

Ohio State Offensive Line: The Most Important Position Battle of Fall Camp

There’s no question what Ohio State’s most consequential position battle is entering preseason camp. Even with four returning starters on the offensive line from a season ago, as many as three starting spots remain unsettled and finding the right five-man combination over the next few weeks is critical for a unit looking to bounce back after allowing 10 sacks over Ohio State’s final two games of last season.

Left guard and center are the only fully settled spots on the line, where Luke Montgomery and Carson Hinzman have started since the end of the 2024 national championship season. Austin Siereveld is also a lock to start somewhere, but Ohio State is still deciding whether to keep him at left tackle — where he earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season — or move him inside to right guard.

According to Ryan Day, that decision will largely come down to how Phillip Daniels, Ian Moore and Joshua Padilla perform throughout camp. Day explained that if any of those three linemen show a high level of play, it gives the staff the flexibility to move Siereveld into the spot that makes the offensive line strongest overall, rather than locking him into one specific position by default.

If Ian Moore builds on a strong spring at left tackle where he took first-team reps while Siereveld recovered from lower-body surgery — it’s expected that Siereveld will ultimately slide back to guard, the position he played before moving to tackle last season. Still, Daniels isn’t a lock to start despite holding the job a year ago, especially after also undergoing spring surgery, meaning it’s very possible Moore ends up taking over at right tackle instead, with Siereveld staying put at left tackle and Padilla winning the right guard job.

Gabe VanSickle and Jake Cook remain in the mix at right guard as well if Siereveld stays at tackle, though Day’s silence on both of them last week suggests Padilla has emerged as the leading non-Siereveld candidate for that spot. Day has said Ohio State hopes to have its starting offensive line sorted out by its ninth or 10th practice of camp, putting real pressure on Daniels, Moore and Padilla over the first two weeks to lock down a starting job.

Ohio State Wide Receiver: A Crowded Room With Real Stakes

Wide receiver is shaping up to be another one of the most intriguing position battles of preseason camp, even though Ohio State returns all but one starter from last season at the position. Jeremiah Smith is obviously a lock to start, and Brandon Inniss is expected to remain the Buckeyes’ starter in the slot. But beyond those two, Ohio State has at least four other receivers pushing hard for regular rotation snaps.

Transfer additions Devin McCuin and Kyle Parker both arrive with stronger statistical resumes than Inniss put up a season ago. McCuin caught 65 passes for 726 yards and eight touchdowns at UTSA, while Parker added 31 catches for 330 yards and four touchdowns at LSU — both ahead of Inniss’s 36 catches for 271 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. Meanwhile, true freshman Brock Boyd has firmly inserted himself into the competition after a standout spring in which he lost his black stripe in just six practices, the third-fastest stripe removal by a freshman in Ohio State history.

With that much proven production and young talent competing for a limited number of meaningful snaps, the wide receiver room behind Smith and Inniss could look considerably different by the time the season opener arrives than it does heading into camp.

Other Battles Brewing on Defense

While the offensive line and wide receiver room carry the most immediate stakes, Ohio State’s defense enters camp with its own share of unresolved competition. With only three returning starters at linebacker and in the secondary, and several other spots along the defensive line still unsettled, plenty of playing time remains up for grabs across the back seven and defensive front as the Buckeyes work through their 25 preseason practices.

Final Thoughts

Ohio State’s path to the 2026 season will be shaped as much by what happens in practice over the next few weeks as by anything on the schedule. With Ryan Day targeting a settled starting offensive line by camp’s ninth or 10th practice and a wide receiver room deep enough to reshape the rotation behind Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss, these next two weeks of preseason camp carry real weight for a roster with national championship aspirations.